In chemistry, an electrophile (literally electron-lover) is a reagent attracted to electrons that participates in a chemical reaction by accepting an electron pair in order to bond to a nucleophile. Because electrophiles accepts electrons, they are Lewis acids (see acid-base reaction theories). Most electrophiles are positively charged, have an atom which carries a partial positive charge, or have an atom which does not have an octet of electrons. Chemistry (derived from the Arabic word kimia, alchemy, where al is Arabic for the) is the science that deals with the properties of organic and inorganic substances and their interactions with other organic and inorganic substances. ... When purchasing or preparing chemicals, reagent describes chemical substances of sufficient purity for use in chemical analysis, chemical reactions or physical testing. ... Properties The electron is a fundamental subatomic particle which carries a negative electric charge. ... A chemical bond is the phenomenon of atoms being held together in molecules, crystals or in solid metal. ... In chemistry, a nucleophile (literally nucleus lover) is a reagent which is attracted to centres of positive charge. ... In chemistry, a Lewis acid can accept a pair of electrons and form a coordinate covalent bond, after the American chemist Gilbert Lewis. ... An acid-base reaction is a chemical reaction between an acid and a base. ... Electric charge is a fundamental conserved property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic interactions. ...

One important type of electrophiles are carbocations, important in many organic chemistry reactions. A carbocation is an ion with a positively-charged carbon atom. ... Organic chemistry is the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and synthesis of organic compounds that by definition contain carbon. ... A reaction is the following: In physics, a reaction (physics) is defined by Newtons third law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The idea that any given force has a pair or opposite force. ...

Because of their ionic reactivity, electrophilic molecules are prominent actors in toxication, the conversion of compounds to toxic metabolites. Cytochrome p450, for instance, metabolizes many drugs into toxic, electrophilic intermediates. Alternately, detoxication may involve conjugating electrophiles into less reactive species.

See also

• Nucleophile